Albus Potter and the Pensieve of the Past
by mischieftobemanaged
Summary: Albus Potter could hardly wait to start his first year at Hogwarts. But when he finds himself being given special treatment from his peers and teachers, he goes on a quest to uncover the dark details of his father's past: before someone else can.
1. Chapter 1: At the Crack of Dawn

**A/N: **This story has not been abandoned, but it is not my top priority right now. I merely uploaded it as more of a test-story before I dive into really uploading other things. I have a pretty decent start on it, but it really depends if I get any feedback if I continue to update this one, as I said, it isn't my primary focus in terms of what I'm working on right now. Nevertheless, please enjoy the first chapter, and more if you continue to read, and please give me your thoughts! Thanks!

Chapter 1

At the Crack of Dawn

_Albus __pushed __himself __up __off __the __cold, __marble __ground. __He __moved __his __dark, __sweat __drenched __locks __off __his __forehead __and __stared __into __the __darkness. __He __dared __to __walk __forward. __He __descended __cautiously __down __a __grand __staircase __into __an __empty, __pitch-black __room. __All __he __could __hear __was __the __echo __of __his __own __footsteps._

_ "Hello?" he called out hopelessly. He attempted to sound as brave as possible, but the shaking in his voice gave him away._

_ "Albus." A cool male voice rang out. "We've been expecting you."_

_ Before Albus could even react, his vision was suddenly filled with a blinding red light. He yelled and then there was nothing._

Albus Potter awoke with a snap; bolting upright so fast he couldn't see for a few seconds. Though his nightmare escaped his mind quickly, the feeling of terror and panic lingered with him. Shuddering, he ran a quick hand through his messy dark hair and peeked out the window of his small bedroom. The sun was just coming over the horizon. Judging by the silence of his house, he was the only one awake at this hour, but this was fine with him.

Al quickly rose from his bed and donned his dressing gown. He peered into the corridor of his house to make sure he was alone. He exited his bedroom, making sure to close his creaky door as quietly as possible. He tiptoed down the hallway, being especially cautious not to cause a racket when he passed his mother and father's bedroom. Finally he reached the staircase, and darted down to the landing in the kitchen.

Without a thought, he raced to the large window that overlooked the garden on the side of the house. He whipped open the shutters and gazed as hard as he could past the rolling green hills, past the trees hundreds of meters high, past even the small river beyond them. Squinting his bright green eyes hard, he tried to make out the blur of an owl in the distance, but with no luck.

Surely it had to be coming today! It was nearly August, why, this was exactly the day that his older brother, James had received his letter last year! Albus had been waiting for his own ever since his eleventh birthday.

Albus Severus Potter was hardly an ordinary eleven-year-old boy. He was a wizard. An untrained wizard, but a wizard nonetheless. And this was supposed to be the year he had been waiting for as long as he could recall. He was finally eleven years old, and eligible for acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hogwarts was a school of magic that had been around for thousands of years. Al's brother, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins had all begun attending when they were eleven years old until they graduated at age seventeen. The majestic castle was home to students, teachers, and even some ghosts, as well as many magical creatures roaming the Forbidden Forest on the perimeter of the grounds and in the Black Lake. When his older brother had come home from his first year at school bursting with countless tales of adventures and excitement, Albus had been filled with jealousy and longing. Every day of the summer, he had secretly risen at dawn to check if his letter had arrived by owl yet.

After several minutes of anxious waiting, Al leaned out of the open window and shut it dejectedly. He went to slink up the stairs to his room, but stumbled on something lying on the ground. It was James' wand, 9 ¼ inches, oak, with a dragon heartstring core. Al remembered Mr. Ollivander, the ancient wand salesman telling James all about how the wand chooses the wizard. Al picked it up delicately, admiring it. His heart burst with more envy and desire for his own wand to do magic with. But in the meantime… it couldn't hurt to practice a bit with James'? After all, he wasn't a student yet. He could do magic outside of school without breaking any Statute of Secrecy. Besides, he couldn't just walk into Hogwarts on September 1st without any experience at all, could he?

The second he lifted the wand, he heard a shrill voice behind him.

"And just _what_ do you think you're doing, Albus Severus!" reprimanded his mother, Ginny Potter. She angrily strode across the room and yanked the wand from his hand, her freckled face fuming and her untidy ginger hair billowing behind her. Shoving the wand into her dressing gown pocket, she wasted no time launching into a livid lecture.

"It all makes sense now, why you were sneaking down here every morning all summer! Oh, yes, I knew, you think you can hide anything from me? I just cannot believe you, thinking you could get away with this every morning!"

"But Mum, I wasn't—"

"Don't you try to deny it, Albus! I saw you! Oh, you are so grounded for the rest of the summer! Yes, that means Diagon Alley too! Just wait till your father hears about this…"

"Till I hear about what?"

Albus looked behind Mrs. Potter and saw his father, Harry, still waiting apprehensively on the staircase. Ginny whipped around, still heated with anger.

"Your son has been sneaking down here every morning at the crack of dawn to practice magic! Underage, before he's even been to Hogwarts, with James's wand!" she exclaimed sharply.

Mr. Potter stepped into the kitchen and scowled. "Well, I hardly think that's anything to wake the whole house up about, Ginny."

"But MUM!" Albus finally cut in. "I wasn't using the wand! I was just- well, I was just, uh—"

"Well?" she said, still glaring sceptically at him.

"I was waiting for my letter to come. I didn't want the owl to come when we were sleeping, and then no one would get to the letter in time, because what if the owl had other letters to deliver and just decided to skip me, and—"

Al stopped himself when he saw his dad break into a large grin. Even his mum was having difficulty repressing a smile.

"What?" he asked, torn between anger that they were laughing at him and relief that he wasn't grounded.

"Nothing," both his parents said, overlapping each other. Albus squinted suspiciously at them until Ginny cleared her throat.

"So who wants breakfast?" she said.

"Me!" yet another voice from the stairway said, this one tiny and female. It was Al's younger sister, Lily. She bounded down the stairs, her pin straight red hair flying behind her. She was the spitting image of Ginny, just as Albus was the spitting image of Harry. His older brother, James, was a combination of the two, with his father's messy dark hair and his mother's brown eyes and freckled face.

"Good morning, darling!" said Ginny, giving Lily a quick kiss on the head as she rushed over to the desk to grab her own wand: 8 inches, hawthorn, with a unicorn hair core. With one flick of the wrist, the round table under the window was set for five and boxes of cereal were placed delicately in line in the center.

"James, breakfast!" Ginny called up the stairs. They heard a loud groan in lieu of a response, and a few minutes later, James stumbled down the stairs, looking miserable.

"Morning, James," said Harry, taking a bite of cereal. They got another moan in response.

"Oh, perk up, son," Harry said enthusiastically. "It's a beautiful day! Maybe we can play some quidditch later in the yard!"

"Great," said James, sarcastically.

"I know what will cheer you all up," said Ginny. "I see an owl headed our way!"

Albus leapt to his feet and threw open the window. He wanted to be the first one to get his letter.

"Wow, act a little bit excited Al," said James in the same sarcastic voice. "After all, it is your first year at Hogwarts."

"James…" said both the Potter parents in a warning tone.

"What? I'm just saying, he should really take it down a few pegs if he doesn't want to stick out as such a first year…"

"JAMES…"

But Albus wasn't listening to a word they said as he untied two scrolls from the leg of a proud snowy owl. He threw the one addressed to James Potter onto the table and held his own firmly, grinning ear to ear as he ripped apart the regal Hogwarts crest on the back and opened the parchment inside.

**_Mr. Albus Potter_**

**_The Third Bedroom_**

**_12 Marigold Lane_**

**_Devon, England_**

**_Dear Mr. Potter,_**

**_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._**

**_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._**

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Hestia Jones_**

**_Deputy Headmistress_**

Albus could hardly breathe as he read and reread his letter as fast as he could. He reached further into the envelope and pulled out the list of supplies. He was pleased to see that all of the same exciting materials that his brother had purchased last year were all still required.

"Wow Al, you'd think you'd never seen parchment before. Don't wet yourself there," James said smarmily.

"JAMES…"

"Okay, okay…"

Ginny shot a stern look at her older son and took the list out of his hands. "Hmm, looks like all the usual things… some new books, nothing too unmanageable though."

"When can we go to Diagon Alley?" exclaimed Albus excitedly. "Can't we go today?"

"Well, we're having Sunday lunch with Grandmom and Grandad Weasley today, and Uncle Ron and Teddy might stop as well. Maybe we can arrange a time to go with them, since Rose is in need of the same supplies you are. Oh goodness, James, let me see your list, I need to start planning…" And with one more bite of cereal and a flick of the wrist, Ginny had cleared her bowl and swiftly walked into her office next to the kitchen.

There was silence as the rest of the family continued eating, but Al was too excited to finish. He refused to let go of his letter. It was his ticket out of another year spent at home, learning silly Muggle lessons from his mother when she wasn't busy writing more Quidditch reviews for the Daily Prophet from her tiny office. It was his way out of staying inside the house all day, afraid to run into one of the neighbourhood children who teased him for being called 'Albus Severus' and for being home schooled. It was his escape from the loneliness of having only his siblings and cousins, Rose and Hugo as companions.

And he wasn't going to let it slip out of his grasp.


	2. Chapter 2: Things to Think About

**A/N:** I assume that if you have clicked on chapter 2, that you have read chapter 1, and so for that I must thank you. This chapter is actually pretty short now that I look at it... hm. Well anyway, please read and review if you liked/enjoyed/fell in love with/detested greatly/want to slap it!

Chapter 2

Things to Think About

It was one o' clock in the afternoon when the Potter family gathered in the living room. Harry was helping Lily read through some old Tales of Beetle the Bard while Ginny waited by the door, looking outside for her parents to Apparate any second now. Albus found himself once more bickering with his brother.

"Charms isn't that hard, James! You're fooling me!" he frowned at James.

"Is too! Professor Goodshot is one of the most difficult teachers in school; everyone says so! She was trained at Beauxbatons, the French school!" James announced.

"So?" Albus shot back. "Charms is easy, everyone knows that. Besides, Mum said she was awful good at it when she was in school, which means it can't be that hard for us—"

"But you take after Dad, everyone says so, Al," James said. "And Dad was only good at—"

"James! Albus!" Ginny whipped her head around. "Stop the fighting, your grandparents are here!"

James shot Albus a smug look as he stood up to go to the door with their mother. Harry and Lily put the book down and joined the family. Al brought up the back as the door swung open.

"Mum! Dad!" Ginny grinned as she embraced her parents and welcomed them inside.

"Ginny, dear, how are you? Oh, Lily! My, my, you've grown haven't you, sweet? And James and Albus, looking as handsome as ever! Albus, you look more like your father every day, I swear—" their Grandmom Weasley, though aging, was as long winded and energetic as ever. The plump woman's curly locks were grey as smoke and her clothes were slightly worn and patched at places, but she had a homely quality that no one Albus had ever met could match. Though she was in her late sixties, her face, teeming with laugh lines, made her seem as youthful as ever.

Grandad followed her into the house, looking around at everything approvingly. He hugged his daughter and shook the hands of Harry and the boys, smiling broadly.

"Grandad!" Lily exclaimed, running in to hug him.

"Ah, hello love!" he scooped her into the air and the small girl giggled.

"Oh, Dad, is that really good for your back, you know she's hardly forty pounds anymore…" Ginny hesitated.

"Oh, relax, Ginny, I hardly think this will make a difference. You need to take a few deep breaths and stop the worrying, my dear, I can see it in your eyes, you're becoming more and more like your mother every day—"

"Like whom, dear?" Grandmom turned around, glaring at her husband in a way that her daughter had most certainly inherited.

"Nothing, nothing…"

The family moved their way into the living room and Al closed the front door, leaning against the frame. He smiled as he admired the easy quality his family had. Just as he made his way to go join them, there was another knock on the door.

"Ah, that'll be Ron and Hermione," said Ginny as she hurried to meet Albus as he opened the door.

"Hey, Al!" said his Uncle Ron. Albus looked up at the tall, red haired man before him and smiled widely at him before clearing the way for the family of four to enter the house. First came Uncle Ron, ducking his head as he entered the house and the slender, put together Aunt Hermione behind him, with her wavy, light brown locks pulled into a ribbon at the base of her neck. Clinging to her side was his younger cousin, Hugo. He was Lily's age, and so the two were best friends, often mistaken for brother and sister, as they both had the same flaming red hair. Finally, Rose Weasley slunk in after them.

Rose was Al's age, but unlike Lily and Hugo, they were far from best friends. True, they weren't bitter enemies, but Al disliked Rose's above-it-all attitude and had no problem showing it. Rose looked like the rest of the Weasley clan; thin and freckled with curly red hair, but brown eyes just like her mother's. She must have taken after Hermione when it comes to her personality as well, seeing as she lacked the Weasley charm and friendliness that everyone else in the family had. Still, Albus had been dealing with Rose and her snootiness for eleven years, and he could manage it today.

"Hi, Rose," he mustered.

"Hello, Albus," she said coolly before following her mother and brother into the sitting room. Albus rolled his eyes and walked over to sit by James.

"Well, I just got a letter, Teddy can't stop by today. Anyway, Albus has some exciting news to share, and I'm sure Rose does too!" Ginny said happily.

"Go ahead, dear." She urged Al. He was slightly disappointed that Teddy Lupin, his dad's nineteen year old godson and Al's personal role model couldn't be there to hear, but nothing could stifle his excitement anyway.

"I got my letter today!" Albus burst. Not even Rose's smarminess could ruin his happiness.

"Me too," said Rose casually. Their grandparents exploded in happiness, Grandmom grabbing both of them and smothering them in hugs and kisses and Grandad grinning ear to ear as he shook their hands enthusiastically and went on one of his tangents about "the first step to adulthood".

"Yes, yes, it's all very exciting!" said Ginny, smiling pleasantly. "We must get to Diagon Alley soon though. Hermione, have you all given any thought as to when you might be going?"

"As a matter of fact, Ron and I were talking about it before we left. We'd better do it sooner rather than later, or they'll have limited robe selection, and who knows how soon the apothecary might run out of supplies."

"You're right, I hadn't even thought about that. Here, would you like a butterbeer or something? Mum, you?" Ginny stood and Aunt Hermione and their grandmother followed her into the kitchen.

"Arthur, I was wondering if you might look at the garden with me? We're infested with gnomes, and I know you all have had them in the past. If I could just get some tips to get rid of the pesky things…" Harry said to Grandad Weasley.

"Certainly, Harry, m'boy! Ron, would you like to come, I do recall you have a special knack for it." Said Grandad, standing and stretching. Uncle Ron nodded and joined his father and Harry in the garden.

The children were left alone in the room, staring awkwardly at each other until Lily broke the silence by escaping to her with Hugo bedroom to play.

"Well," said James, his eyes gleaming roguishly. "I suppose you might both want to get to know each other a bit better, considering you'll probably be each other's only friends at Hogwarts."

"Nuh uh!" Rose and Albus cut in right away.

"Besides, we'll probably be in different houses anyway," Rose sniffed.

"Really? Considering our entire family, both sides, has been in Gryffindor for generations, how on earth—"said James.

"Not true!" rushed Rose. "Aunt Fleur didn't even go to Hogwarts, and Victoire is in Ravenclaw! That's where I want to be."

"Why?" said James bluntly.

"Because that's the only house where the _intelligent_ people reside!" huffed Rose, storming off to the kitchen with the other females.

"Yeah, right, _she__'__s_intelligent," grumbled James.

"Do you think she could be in Ravenclaw?" asked Al, curiously. "I mean, Victoire was…"

"She's nothing like Victoire." James said immediately. "But for my sake, I hope she's in Ravenclaw. If she's in Gryffindor with me…"

"Yeah, same," Albus agreed. James turned to him, a sneaky look in his brown eyes.

"What makes you so sure you'll be in Gryffindor though?" said James.

"Well, you did say that all our family was…" said Al, meekly.

"So? You're not brave or bold like the rest of us. You're way too shy to be in Gryffindor." James sneered. "And you sure aren't smart enough to be in Ravenclaw like Victoire. You'll probably be in Hufflepuff; you're such a duffer. Or maybe _Slytherin._"

Al's stomach did a back flip. He had never really considered being in anything but Gryffindor when he got to school. After all, his dad, mum, uncles, and aunts (besides Aunt Fleur and Aunt Penelope, but Aunt Fleur had gone to Beauxbatons, and they barely saw Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope anyway) had all been in Gryffindor. Heck, even James got in! Although he certainly was bold enough to qualify… Al on the other hand…

He shook the thought out of his head. He shouldn't worry about this at all, when the chances of him not being in Gryffindor were slim to none. But still, he couldn't help but imagine getting up in front of the whole school with the Sorting Hat proud on his head as it declared him a Hufflepuff, or worse, Slytherin in front of his brother and cousins of Gryffindor, and the shame he'd feel as he joined a table of sickeningly sugary Hufflepuffs or sallow, stuck-up Slytherins.

"James! Albus!" Ginny Potter appeared in the entrance. "Lunch is almost ready. James, go call your sister and Hugo downstairs to help me set the table. Al, can you go fetch your dad? Thank you."

Albus, still feeling dazed and worried, strolled through the kitchen and out the side door by the garden. He looked around for the men and walked around the corner. There they were, by the broom shed, talking in low voices. As Albus approached them quietly, he heard snatches of phrases, none of which made any sense at all.

"I know he's gone, and it won't start again, but they're growing stronger, there's no denying it…"

"Harry's right, Dad, it's been crazy down at the Auror office. The old faces might be gone, but their children, and children's children are still plotting, we can tell…"

"You keep saying that, and I don't doubt you, but You-Know-Who is dead now, they can't rebel again, they have no leader…"

Albus cleared his throat and the men stopped abruptly.

"Mum says lunch is ready." He said, his voice high and nervous. His dad smiled at him in the same way he did when he and Ginny were talking about something they didn't want the kids to hear.

"Okay, we'll be right in." Harry said. Albus turned and walked slowly back into the house.

Harry talked a lot about work with Uncle Ron and Grandad. Grandad used to work in the Ministry before he retired and Harry and Ron were both Aurors, dark wizard catchers. He never told his children anything about the details of his job though. Honestly, they never really cared too much. But what Al had just overheard worried him. He'd never heard his father sound that anxious before.

He turned the corner and entered the kitchen for lunch. Taking a deep breath, he decided to put all the troublesome thoughts about Hogwarts and his dad aside.

For now.


	3. Chapter 3: The Man in the Alley

**A/N:** If you have made it through Chapters 1&2, and decided to continue on to 3, I really owe you some chocolate. And if you review, I'll owe you chocolate AND cookies. Anyway, this was one of my favorite chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

The Man in the Alley

"Keep up, everybody! We have a lot to buy, and little time to do it!" Aunt Hermione took charge and led the pack of nine Weasley-Potters through Diagon Alley. "Come on, everybody group up, right here!"

Hermione stepped over right outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Hermione was unfazed by their location but the children, and even Harry and Uncle Ron couldn't take their eyes off of the beautiful mahogany Nimbus 2010 hanging in the window.

"Oh, focus everybody!" Aunt Hermione said, snapping her fingers in front of her husband's face. "So, we're going to need to stop by Gringotts in a few hours to make a transaction, but until then, I think we can probably split up. I figured Ginny and I can take Lily and Hugo while we shop a little at Madam Malkin's and the apothecary if you take James, Albus and Rose to Flourish and Blotts and down to Ollivander's. We can meet at Gringotts before lunch, then head down to Uncle George's shop."

"Roger that," Uncle Ron said, saluting mockingly. Albus grinned. Rose was always going on about how embarrassing and immature her parents were, with their constant bickering and teasing each other, but Albus thought it was funny. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were the prime example of how opposites attract.

Aunt Hermione rolled her eyes and ushered Rose and Hugo with her and Ginny.

"Well," said Uncle Ron. "Shall we head off? Flourish and Blotts is right over there."

Books did not particularly fascinate Al and James. James, as a general rule, detested them, but Albus didn't mind so much when they were about magic. One time last year, right after James left for school, Rose tried to make Albus read _Hogwarts,__A__History_ to "prepare for next year".

"We'll want to get ahead of the game, Albus," she had said in her bossy Rose tone. "After all, you don't just want to waltz into Hogwarts the first day knowing nothing about magic."

Usually, if his father or even his mum had suggested he read a book, he would oblige. But he chose to ignore Rose's suggestion, as she had a habit of suggesting simply awful books.

Despite his displeasure with books, even James couldn't help but love Flourish and Blotts. Future students and parents rushed around frantically, asking attendants about such and such book and to reach this off the top of the spiralling shelves. James and Albus were certainly fascinated; Rose was in heaven.

Ron and Harry went to find a clerk while James and Al waited casually near the doorway, not wanting to get in the way of the hustle and bustle of the busy bookshop. Rose however, dove right in. She rushed around from display to display, opening and touching all the books she could, red curls flying wildly behind her. Once, she got too close to a cage holding an ancient copy of _The__Monster__Book__of__Monsters_and almost got her fingers bitten off. Only then did she return to the boys.

James was snickering at her.

"What?" she challenged angrily.

"I mean, I've heard of getting a taste of a good book, but that really takes it to a new level… What kind of book would want to taste you anyway?" he could barely speak for laughing. Rose smacked his shoulder angrily. She crossed her arms and stood silently stewing for five minutes while James laughed loudly. Al was having trouble suppressing a smile when his dad appeared with Uncle Ron, both carrying sacks of schoolbooks.

"Well, we bought your books, and lucky we did now, the assistant manager said they're nearly out of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade— what's going on?" Harry said, catching on to Rose's sour expression and the elfish gleam in James' eyes.

"James found it very amusing when that awful furry book tried to bite me." Rose admitted sullenly.

"James, please, for one day…" said Harry, exasperated as he let the thought trail off.

"Come on all, we have a hike down to Ollivander's." Uncle Ron said, trying to diffuse the tension. The pack of five set off down the cobblestone street, Ron and Harry leading the way, Rose moping behind them, and Albus and James bringing up the rear.

They passed the robe shop, where the women were shopping and Lily and Hugo waited, looking bored by the entrance. They said a quick hello, and crossed to the other side of the street to avoid the crowd outside of Gringotts when all of the sudden, Harry ran right into a tall, thin man with receding blond hair and long black robes, though it was the middle of August, who was exiting the small alley across the road. Al strained his neck to see a rusted sign that read Knockturn Alley.

"Well, well, Potter, might want to watch your step a bit. You never know who you run into in these parts." The man said coolly.

"Draco," Harry said, just as emotionless.

"And Weasley, nice to see you as well. Those robes look almost well cared for. I suppose the Auror office pays nearly quadruple what you were used to before, eh?" the blond man shot at Uncle Ron.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron said briskly. It was obvious to Albus, though he'd never once seen his uncle angry, how hard Ron was working not to explode.

"I suppose these must be the children I've heard about," the man said, ignoring Ron. He eyed Rose. "Let's see, red hair like a lion's mane and an above-it-all air. Am I right in guessing that she's yours and Granger's, Weasley?"

Without waiting for an answer, he stepped between Harry and Ron, who had taken Rose firmly by the shoulder, and surveyed James and Albus. "And these must be yours, Potter." He nodded at James before saying, "He has the Weasley girl's eyes. And this one," He stared Albus down, as Al tried his hardest to keep eye contact and not show fear towards this intimidating stranger. "Why, those green eyes belong to _your_ mother, Potter, if I'm not mistaken. What a shame." The man smirked and Albus saw his father tense up as his expression grew even more unwelcome.

Albus had never met his father's parents, and Harry never spoke of them. The most Al knew was that James and Lily were both named after them, and that they had died when Harry was very young, leaving him to be raised by Al's great aunt and uncle, Muggles, whom Al had only met once when Lily was born.

"Hm, struck a nerve, did I?" the blond man looked satisfied as he strutted up in front of Harry again. "Amazing, how you all still seem to act like you're in charge, even though we all know you're just as sensitive as we are. Oh, just you Dumbledore worshippers wait—"

Harry cut him off. "Why are you here, Draco?"

Malfoy chuckled. "I have a family now, just like you, Potter. My wife, Asteria Greengrass, you know, is off in Madam Malkin's with my son, Scorpius, getting his first Hogwarts robes."

Ron snorted at the name. Malfoy turned on him. "Think the name's funny, do you?" he snapped. "Well, I'm sorry no one consulted you, Weasley. But seeing as most of your family is named after disturbed relatives… I'm sure you understand."

Harry grabbed Ron's forearm before he could do anything rash, as Albus knew his uncle to do.

"Good day, Malfoy," Harry said firmly. "Come on, children, let's go."

Without looking back, Harry and Ron strode away. Rose cantered after, staying close to Uncle Ron's side. James and Albus watched as the blond man, Malfoy, strutted off regally towards the robe shop.

"James! Albus!" Harry called after them briskly. The boys hurried ahead to catch up with him.

"Who was that man, Dad?" James wasted no time asking.

"Nobody," Harry said, still distant. "Just an old classmate."

"He wasn't very nice," James continued. "Was he in your house?"

"Mm? Oh, no, he was in Slytherin." Their dad said shortly.

"What was he going on about, calling you a Double Door worshipper, and your mum—"

"JAMES." Harry stopped in his tracks, obviously angry. He took a deep breath and recomposed himself. "Sorry. I… I would prefer not to discuss it. Come on, we've wasted time. Let's just head back to Gringotts."

Harry turned sharply and the group made their way back to the front steps of the bank in silence. They spotted Ginny's flaming hair almost immediately. She and Hermione were looking around for any signs of them while Lily and Hugo sat on the steps nearby.

"There you all are, I thought we'd lost you! Did you get your wands? Harry, what's wrong?" Ginny said, her tone changing from relief to happiness to concern in one breath.

"Nothing, ah, come on," he took her by the arm and led her towards the entrance of Gringotts. As an afterthought, he called back, "James, Al, wait here!"

Al watched his father and mother enter the bank, already deep in

conversation. Though they were more than a few meters away, it was hard to miss the look of shock- and, was that fright? - on Ginny's face as they walked through the bank's grand doors.

Aunt Hermione looked absolutely baffled at their dad's cold greeting. She turned to Uncle Ron, who said quietly, "We ran into Malfoy back there. Come on, we better go get our money soon. Kids, stay here."

He led Hermione away, the two of them talking in hushed tones just as Ginny and Harry were moments before.

Al was more confused than a few weeks ago before lunch, when he'd heard his dad, grandfather, and uncle talking very suspiciously. He hadn't forgotten that conversation; quite the contrary, it was all he thought about when he wasn't daydreaming about Hogwarts or worrying about being in Gryffindor.

_ "I know he's gone, and it won't start again, but they're growing stronger, there's no denying it…"_

_ "Harry's right, Dad, it's been crazy down at the Auror office. The old faces might be gone, but their children, and children's children are still plotting, we can tell…"_

_ "You keep saying that, and I don't doubt you, but You-Know-Who is dead now, they can't rebel again, they have no leader…"_

The snippets of talk Al had overheard raced through his brain like a song as he tried to make sense of it. Did this man, Malfoy, have something to do with this rebellion his dad was so afraid of?

James broke the silence, as all five of the children watched their parents abandon them on the stairs.

"How come Dad said that guy was a classmate? He wasn't very kind at all." He announced. "Besides, Dad wasn't a Slytherin."

Albus shrugged, still deep in thought about who this man was. It occurred to him that Malfoy was the first Slytherin he'd ever met. If all of them were like Malfoy, he shuddered at the thought of being put in Slytherin.

Rose, however, had a lot to say. "Honestly, don't you two pay attention to your parents at all?" she said bossily.

"No." said James. "Why, has Uncle Ron mentioned this guy, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Not specifically," Rose said cautiously. "But ever since the week I got my letter, they've been acting so secretively. Constantly slipping away for private conversations about Dad's work. At first, I thought nothing of it. I figured he was getting a dock in his paycheck, or things were stressful, and we'd hear about it at dinner in a week or two. But they didn't say anything, they just kept whispering. I'd hear clips of it every now and then, but not often, and it never made any sense."

"Like what?" asked James.

"I don't know; it never had any meaning to me." Rose said, sounding rather confused, even for her. "It was always the same phrases. 'They're growing stronger', they always said that one. They would mention weird names, like the one Mr. Malfoy told Uncle Harry he worshipped, Double Door or whatever, and 'You-Know-Who'. Yes, they mentioned 'You-Know-Who' quite a lot."

"Who's that?" James prodded.

"Well, I don't know, do I?" Rose replied, her voice dripping with attitude. "You-Know-Who must be bad though, or they probably would have referred to them by name. What if Mr. Malfoy is who they were talking about?"

"No," Albus said suddenly. "Whoever You-Know-Who is, they're dead."

"How do you know?" Rose challenged.

"I heard our dads and Grandad talking about it that day you came for lunch," Albus said. He repeated what he remembered to his brother and cousin.

"Well, why didn't you tell us this earlier!" Rose exclaimed. "Do you realize— Hello Mum! Dad!" She stopped her thought suddenly as the adults appeared behind her.

"Hi, everyone," Aunt Hermione said calmly. "Change of plans, we're going to go home for now. We'll come back another day to get Rose and Al wands and visit Uncle George. Come on now, back to the Leaky Cauldron!"

The walk down the narrow road was hurried as Hermione weaved around the hundreds of other busy shoppers in Diagon Alley. Once they reached the pub, Albus found himself walking next to Harry, looking just as ashen faced and solemn as before.

"Why are we leaving so soon, Dad?" he asked.

"The shops are a bit crowded. We probably won't get service for another hour at Ollivander's, and the joke shop will be a madhouse. It's just better if we come back in a few days." Harry said without making eye contact with his son.

"Oh," Al said. He didn't press his dad, even though he knew that the hoards of people were definitely not the reason the family was leaving Diagon Alley.


	4. Chapter 4: Platform 9 and 34

**A/N:** A real serious DISCLAIMER on this chapter: A large majority of this chapter (I'll assume you know when) is being used from the Epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K Rowling. I do not own her words, characters, or scenarios. I just really really admire them.

Chapter 4

Platform 9 and ¾

The sun had just risen when Albus opened his eyes wide on September 1st. Even though he had barely slept the night before, kept awake worrying himself sick about his Sorting the next day and all the wild frights of Hogwarts that James had told him about, not even his usual nightmare could keep his excitement at bay. He sat up and stretched, ruffling his hair as he yawned. His trunk and brand new cage for his beautiful Barn Owl, Godric. He had hoped when he bought the owl a week ago, along with his brand new wand (8 inches, mahogany, phoenix feather core) that naming it after the founder of Gryffindor House might bring him some luck.

Having barely seen Rose in the past two weeks before school, and James not wanting to discuss it, Al hadn't bothered to think anymore about the strange encounter with Mr. Malfoy in Diagon Alley. But with that out of his brain, it had left more room for worrying about his Sorting, and James had hardly helped him get over his nerves. Quite the opposite, actually.

"Look, Al, I know everyone says you'll be in Gryffindor, and you probably will, I'm just saying, you really shouldn't get your hopes up." James had said matter-of-factly. "I saw last year on the train how all the first years get. You're either hoping for Gryffindor, or you know you'll be in Slytherin. Some hoped for Ravenclaw, but nobody wanted Hufflepuff. No one wanted Slytherin either except for a few real nasty kids. I met a fair few who I swore were Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs, and they ended up in Slytherin. It's all about the what the Sorting Hat sees."

What would the Sorting Hat see? Al's whole family had been in Gryffindor, but he certainly wasn't as bold as James or brave as his dad. He was reasonably bright, but not sure if he was Ravenclaw material. He wasn't like Rose or his cousin Victoire, who were bookworms to no end. Perhaps Hufflepuff, but he wasn't committed to them, having heard loads from James about how they were nothing but a bunch of "goody two-shoes wimps". He didn't even want to think about Slytherin.

He'd always just thought that Slytherins were proud to the point that it appeared cruel to everyone else, but after meeting Mr. Malfoy in Diagon Alley, he realized that he did not want to ever be a Slytherin, or even associate with them. What if he was sorted there, and all the other students were just as nasty had Mr. Malfoy had been to his dad? Or worse… what if he became like that? What if Al was always meant to be as dreadful as Mr. Malfoy, and that's what the Sorting Hat saw?

Albus tried to ignore the doubt in his mind and butterflies in his stomach as he dressed quickly and packed the last of his things in his trunk. As he closed it, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he said quietly. His father cracked the door cautiously.

"I just came to see if you wanted help with your things," Harry said, still calm.

"Yeah, that would be great." Albus said. He could feel his dad's eyes on him, but didn't look up.

"Al," his dad said, looking at him. Finally, Albus tilted his head up.

"Don't be nervous, okay?" Harry told him. "Hogwarts… it's nothing to be afraid of. It will be home before you even know it."

"I'm not that nervous." Albus lied. His dad looked sceptically at him. "Honest."

He could tell Harry didn't believe him at all but his dad let it go. "Okay," Harry said. He lifted Al's trunk and hoisted it out of his room. Al went to his window, where he saw Godric swooping around outside the window, clearly pleased with himself for a good night's hunt. He opened with window and the owl fluttered right onto his hand. Albus couldn't help but smile as he eased the creature into his cage to take downstairs.

By nine thirty, the Potter residence was crazy. Albus sat at the kitchen table, staring out the window and nervously picking at some toast. James had woken up late, again, and Ginny was busy yelling at him to hurry up and bring his things downstairs. Meanwhile, Lily had broken down in the living room. All week she had been pouting about how her brothers got to go to Hogwarts and she couldn't yet. She sat on the couch, sobbing and whining as Harry tried to comfort her, to no avail.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, GET DOWN HERE NOW AND EAT OR YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE TRAIN!" Ginny's face was red and contorted as she screamed up the stairs to her oldest son and simultaneously tried to scarf down some breakfast.

"Mum, just relax! The train doesn't come until eleven anyway!" James called right back, coolly.

"I KNOW WHAT TIME THE TRAIN COMES! BUT WE HAVE TO BE THERE BY QUARTER OF ELEVEN TO MEET THE WEASLEYS, AND WE HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE! NOT TO MENTION LOAD YOUR TRUNK INTO THE CAR! ALBUS!" Ginny turned suddenly to Albus, who jumped a bit in his seat.

"Sorry dear," Ginny apologized. "Where are your things?"

"Dad put them in the car already." Albus said.

"Such a goody two-shoes!" James jeered from upstairs. "Maybe you will be in Hufflepuff…"

"James, cool it!" Ginny said, aggravated. "Leave your brother alone and get down here already, it's nearly ten! We have to get out of here soon if you don't want to miss the train!"

James exited his bedroom at the top of the stairs and sauntered into the kitchen with a flip of his hair. He kissed his mother on the cheek without missing a beat. Al couldn't help but admire his brother's overconfidence sometimes.

"And where are your things?" their mum demanded.

"Upstairs." James said, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Harry!" Ginny looked like she was going to explode. "Can you fetch James' trunk from upstairs? Now?"

Harry looked torn between obeying his overstressed wife and trying to console his sobbing nine year old.

"Can you…" he gestured to Lily, crying silently beside him.

Ginny sighed as Harry made for the stairs, giving her a kiss on the cheek nearly as smooth as his son's moments ago.

"Lily, dear, what's wrong…" Ginny took over. Meanwhile, James wasted no time tapping into Al's worries again.

"So, today's the big day," he smirked. "Will it be Hufflepuff or Slytherin?"

Al ignored him, focusing hard on his toast.

"But I mean, it's probably better if you aren't a Gryffindor anyway," James tried. "People would expect so much of you, being my younger brother and all. This way, you get to make an all new impression on your slimy little Slytherin friends."

"I won't be in Slytherin," Al rebutted meekly. "I'd rather leave."

"Oh, but it won't be awful." James grinned, pleased that he finally struck a nerve. "The girls are all quite attractive actually. Isabella Zabini is quite a looker, once you get pass the fact that her nose looks a bit like a Muggle bowling ball with her nostrils all flared in the air all the time."

The rest of breakfast continued in the same fashion. Even when the Potters had loaded up the car and were on their way, James wouldn't let up about Albus being a Slytherin. He went on and on about all the 'lovely friends' Al would make, and how the dungeons are actually pleasantly chilled in the wintertime. It wasn't until they actually arrived at King's Cross Station that Albus snapped.

"Who knows, you might even become mates with Mr. Malfoy's son, Scorpion or whatever his name is…" James sneered as they approached the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.

"I _won__'__t_! I_won__'__t_ be in Slytherin!" Albus barked at his brother angrily.

"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny, approaching the boys with Harry and a tearful Lily.

"I only said he _might_be," said James as he grinned at Al mischievously. "There's nothing wrong with that. He _might_ be in Slyth—"

Finally, one death glare from their mother shut James up for now. He didn't look any less cocky as he turned his trolley around and disappeared into the barrier, challenging Albus with one last look.

Al didn't waste time. Now that James was gone, he could finally talk to his parents a little.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Al asked them.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

"Not _every_ day," Al said quickly. "James says most people only get letters from home bout once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," His dad said. Albus had barely noticed his presence before. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Together, the remaining four Potters entered the barrier, Al's trolley in tow. He couldn't help but wince as they should have hit the wall, but never did. As they walked on magical platform, Albus felt the butterflies in his stomach pick up speed as he eyed the scarlet train, thick white steam billowing from the engine.

The family made their way down the platform in search of the Weasleys and James.

"Where are they?" Albus asked, anxious at the idea of facing the train alone. Even though Rose annoyed him more than anyone he'd ever met, he couldn't help but want her there to spit out random facts about Hogwarts; ones he knew had to be true, unlike what James told him.

"We'll find them," Ginny reassured him.

It was hard to see through all the vapour accumulating from the train. Albus heard his Uncle Percy complaining loudly, as per usual. They didn't bother to say hello, to Al's relief. Not that he disliked his uncle, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with stuffy Percy right now.

"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny suddenly.

Sure enough, four figures came into view. Only when the Potters approached them did their faces become clear.

"Hi," Albus said, pouring all his relief into his voice. Rose actually smiled at him, obviously excited in her new school robes.

Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were bickering again about Uncle Ron's Muggle driving exam as Harry lifted Al's things onto the train. They found Lily and Hugo back on the platform, immersed in conversation about what house they'd be sorted into when they went to school in two years. Albus's stomach gave another nervous flip as their conversation reminded him about his Sorting later this evening.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Uncle Ron jokingly to Hugo. "But no pressure."

_"__Ron!__"_ Aunt Hermione exclaimed.

Lily and Hugo laughed, but neither Albus nor Rose could.

"He doesn't mean it," Hermione and Ginny reassured the new first years. Al looked at his uncle for affirmation, but Ron was no longer paying attention.

"Look who it is." His uncle said sourly.

Al glanced behind his parents and saw Mr. Malfoy standing on the platform. He was wearing similar dark clothing and looked as sour as ever. He waited with a woman who appeared just as unfriendly as her husband, and a small boy whose resemblance to his father was shocking. Mr. Malfoy saw the adults staring and nodded curtly. Albus averted his eyes quickly.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Uncle Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Aunt Hermione sternly, but obviously trying to hide amusement. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron apologetically, but still he added, "Don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie. Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

The adults smiled at this truth, but Rose still didn't laugh. They heard a voice behind them.

"Hey!"

James finally reappeared, without his trunk and owl. The gleam in his eye was more prominent than ever.

"Teddy's back there," he heaved, pointing over his shoulder. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging__Victoire!__"_

Nobody showed any reaction to this news, to James' obvious dismay.

"_Our_ Teddy! _Teddy__Lupin!_ Snogging _our_ Victoire! _Our_cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"

"You interrupted them?" reprimanded Ginny. "You are _so_like Ron—"

"—And he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's _snogging_ her!" James added, as if he hadn't made himself clear before.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily. "Teddy would _really_ be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al— Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly. "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

Al couldn't help but smile because he knew it was true.

"It's nearly eleven," said Harry, checking his watch. "You'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she smothered him. Al had forgotten that their family friend, Neville Longbottom, had started as the Herbology professor a few years ago.

"Mum! I can't give a professor _love_!" James argued.

"But you _know_ Neville—"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him _love_…"

Shaking his head at Ginny, he aimed a kick at Al tensely. Al jumped out of the way and frowned at his brother.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals." James said bitterly as he made his way away from the family.

Al was startled by this comment. "I thought they were invisible! _You__said__they__were__invisible!__"_

James laughed and let Ginny kiss him. He gave Harry a fleeting embrace and then leapt onto the train. He waved, and then disappeared to go find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Ginny gave Al a kiss good-bye.

"See you at Christmas." She said.

"Bye, Al," said Harry as Al turned to hug his dad. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyway till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

Al appreciated his father's warnings, but there was one more thing he couldn't get off his mind.

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whispered fear was for Harry alone, and his dad realized that. He crouched down so that Al's green eyes were only slightly above Harry's. Al was face to face with the odd jagged scar on his dad's forehead.

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly. Ginny was in earshot, but waving to Rose who had just boarded the train. "You were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

Albus was encouraged to learn this, but wondered if it increased his chances of being put in the most detested house.

"But _just__say_—" he started. Harry cut him off immediately.

"—Then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

Albus felt his heart soar at this new possibility. "Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry. Al never knew this about his dad. Surely, if Harry, the bravest person Al had ever met, was just as insecure about his house as a first year, maybe sorting wasn't so bad.

The doors on the train were already closing when Al leaped into the carriage next to Rose. His mum closed the door behind him as Al noticed something odd. All the students hanging out the windows, saying good byes and blowing kisses, seemed to be staring at his dad.

"Why are they all _staring_?" he demanded.

"Don't let it worry you," Uncle Ron said assuringly. "It's me. I'm extremely famous."

This time, all the children laughed at his joke. The train began to move and pick up speed and Rose and Al waved to their parents until it turned the corner.

Al's stomach gave another turn, this time excited. After all, he was going to Hogwarts.


	5. Chapter 5: Aboard the Hogwarts Express

**A/N:** Not that much to say, except thank you for making it to Chapter 5, and to please review(: Thanks, and enjoy!

Chapter 5

Aboard the Hogwarts Express

"C'mon, Albus," Rose said from behind him. "We better go find a compartment before they're all taken."

"What?" Albus said, still thinking about his dad as he gazed out the window.

"You _do_ want to sit together, right?" Rose said, sounding a bit concerned.

"Oh, yes," Albus snapped back into reality. Even though he was sure that at this point, Rose's know-it-all attitude would be in full gear, he didn't want to sit alone. "Let's go,"

They scoured the train, but they couldn't seem to find an open compartment welcome to a couple of first year students. Finally, they reached the back of the train.

"Here's one Al! But… oh," Rose said, walking ahead of him.

"What?" Albus peeked inside the back compartment. It was empty, except for one boy their age, reading a book. As the boy moved the book away from his face, they saw it was Scorpius Malfoy.

Albus opened the door of the compartment. "Err, excuse me." He said.

"Albus!" Rose pulled him aside. "We can't— I mean, my dad said—,"

"Rose, do you want to sit in the corridor?" Albus said, impatiently. When she didn't respond, he turned back to the door.

"Sorry, but, err, do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full." Al asked Scorpius. Scorpius shook his head to indicate that they could, but did not look up.

Al gestured to Rose and the two of them sat down across from the blond boy, who was sprawled across his seat. Al saw Rose craning her neck to see what book he was reading.

"_Hogwarts, __A __History_?" she said nosily.

"Yes," said Scorpius.

"I read it a while ago," said Rose snootily.

"Me too." Scorpius looked her in the eyes and Rose fidgeted in her seat. Albus couldn't help but chuckle. Scorpius looked at him, unamused. "Who are you?"

"Albus Potter," Al said, taken aback by the boy's abruptness. Scorpius sat up, expression unchanged.

"Harry Potter's son?" he said suspiciously.

"Yes," Al said, confused. How did this boy know his dad?

"Yeah, I've heard of your dad. My father's mentioned him more than a few times." Scorpius said, reading Al's mind. "But then again, you could probably say the same. I'm Scorpius Malfoy. Draco Malfoy's my father."

Rose tensed a bit. Scorpius turned his gaze to her. He really didn't miss a trick.

"And you are?" Scorpius said sharply.

"Rose Weasley." Rose said, unabashed. "Al is my cousin."

Scorpius nodded and leaned back in his seat. "Weasley and Potter, eh? I suppose you're both hoping for Gryffindor then?"

Albus shrugged and looked out the window. They were in the middle of the countryside by now, far away from the station. He felt a pang of uneasiness at where he was now, in the middle of nowhere in a compartment with the son of a Slytherin.

"Not necessarily," Rose said. She sat upright and hadn't relaxed since they'd gotten into the compartment. "I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw. And you?"

"Slytherin, I expect," Scorpius said, a twinge of dismay in his voice.

"You don't sound too pleased about it." Rose said matter-of-factly. "I thought your dad was in Slytherin."

"Both my parents were," Scorpius said. "And they want me to be too, but I'm not sure I do. The only people who think it's any good are the Slytherins; everyone else just sees them as a load of slimy gits, don't they? Well that's not me. I'm proud, but I'm not a git."

Rose stayed silent, clearly still irritated about Scorpius' pert retort when she inquired about the book earlier.

"What about you, Potter?" Scorpius asked Al, who still hadn't turned around. He winced when Scorpius called him 'Potter' remembering Mr. Malfoy referring to Harry by the same name.

"Gryffindor, I hope," said Albus. "But I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be awful. My brother keeps telling me I'll be a Slytherin, though." He faced the other two when he said the last bit.

"You won't be." Scorpius said boredly. "You don't seem like one. I've seen Slytherins about, they all have that 'I'm better than you' air about them, like Weasley here."

He nodded to Rose, who looked positively offended. Albus laughed out loud, but couldn't help but think Scorpius had that kind of attitude as well.

"You're alright, Potter," said Scorpius with a smile. Albus grinned back at his new friend. Rose sat solemnly still.

Albus and Scorpius spent hours talking about everything from Quidditch, the classes at Hogwarts, the things they bought in Diagon Alley, and even home a little bit. Though Albus had nothing but fond feelings towards his family, he sensed that Scorpius did not. The boy said very little except that he rarely saw his parents and had no siblings. It was during one of these awkward silences when Albus began to notice the unusual amount of students who seemed eager to pass by their compartment and look inside.

"Why do they keep looking in here?" Al said, frustrated. Scorpius shrugged. Even Rose looked baffled at the increasing attention the farthest compartment composed of three first years seemed to be getting.

"Ugh!" Albus sighed. He stood up and glared at three Ravenclaw girls lingering outside the door, who all giggled and ran off. Al shut the blinds.

He wasn't sure why all this attention bothered him so much. He supposed it just had to do with the fact that he wasn't sure why he was getting all these odd stares in the first place. Just as he sat back down, he heard a knock on the door.

He threw open the sliding panel. "What!" he said, assuming it was another student. He felt embarrassed to see that it was only the tubby candy lady with the trolley full of magical sweets.

"Oh! Anything from the trolley, dears?" asked the woman, startled.

"Err—" Al felt his face go red as he turned to grab the pouch of Galleons from his seat. "Just three Chocolate Frogs, please." As the woman handed him the sweets that he had bought for them all to share, he said a quick "Sorry," before giving her a Galleon.

"Oh, don't mention it, love!" the pleasant woman smiled. As she turned to leave, Rose called out, "Oh wait! Ma'am, do you know when we'll be at Hogwarts?"

"Another hour or so, I expect," the woman said.

"Thank you," said Rose, sliding the door shut as the candy lady trotted down the corridor.

Al handed Chocolate Frogs to the other two, who hastened to bite into them quickly, lest they escape. As Al polished off the last leg of his, he checked the card inside the package. He'd never collected Chocolate Frog cards, as his parents both deemed it a waste of time, seeing as they barely ate the sweet anyway. Nevertheless, Al always liked to look at them anyway. Today was no exception. His card had on it a smiling man with half-moon spectacles and long silver hair and a beard to match.

**ALBUS ****DUMBLEDORE**

Headmaster of Hogwarts 1938-1997

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.

"Who's that you have there, Albus?" Scorpius craned his neck to see.

"Some man called Dumbledore," Al said. The name sounded familiar. He furrowed his brow, trying to remember where he'd heard of Dumbledore before. "Albus Dumbledore…"

Of course! Earlier today, hadn't his father said to him that he had been named after two headmasters of Hogwarts? Albus Dumbledore had to be one. After all, how many headmasters of Hogwarts could there have been called Albus?

Meanwhile, Rose had recognized the name as well. "Of course!" she smacked her hand on her forehead. "Albus! That's the name my parents kept saying! Dumbledore! It's the name that—"

She cut off, remembering whom they were with as she nervously glanced toward Scorpius. Albus understood anyway. Dumbledore was the one that Mr. Malfoy had said that his dad and uncle 'worshipped'.

Scorpius looked confused, but still feeling tension with Rose, did not push it. "1938 to 1997 he was Headmaster." He told Albus and Rose. "He would have been there when our parents were in school."

"I'll bet they knew him," Albus turned to Rose as he said this. She scowled.

"Why would you say that? There are a lot of students." She scolded.

"Well, yes," Al admitted. "But…. I'm named after him. Why would they name me after someone who wasn't important some way? Think about it. James and Lily are both named after my dad's parents. James asked about his middle name too, and we know it was Dad's godfather. You're telling me that they named their oldest and youngest child after family, and picked 'Albus Severus' from a baby name book?"

"It's logical," Rose said slowly. "But how do you know it's _this_ Albus?"

"My dad told me just before we left that I was named after two headmasters of Hogwarts." Albus said, thinking. "And that— that one of them was a Slytherin. Not that it matters, but… do you think Dumbledore was a Slytherin?" He felt a bit concerned. For some reason, he knew that Dumbledore was more than just his namesake. And if Mr. Malfoy was going around calling his dad a 'Dumbledore Worshipper', could it be that Dumbledore was the Slytherin Harry had referred to? Was Dumbledore the bravest man his dad had ever known?

Then another worry hit him. Surely someone at Hogwarts knew if Dumbledore was a Slytherin. What if they pointed out that Albus shared a name with him? What if Al was put in Slytherin for his name?

"There's no way of telling from this." Rose snapped Albus back into reality. She studied both sides of the card before coming to this conclusion.

"I've never even heard of him." Scorpius chimed in.

There was silence for a minute, before Rose said, "It's getting dark. We'll probably be there soon, you both ought to get your robes on."

Scorpius and Albus pulled their new robes on and sat down. All three of them were quiet for the rest of the train ride, absorbed in their own thoughts of what was in store at their new school. Finally, Albus spotted the vague outline of a tall castle in the distance, standing proud above a murky lake.

"I see it!" he said, failing to mask his excitement. "This is it! Hogwarts!"


	6. Chapter 6: Sorting Surprises

**A/N: This chapter has been updated: 11/28/11 due to a few name changes. **

Hi everyone**, **sorry for any inconvience, but I have reuploaded this chapter due to the writing of chapter 7. Please enjoy these minor changes, thank you so much for reading, blahdittyblahdittyblah, enjoy Chapter 6!

Chapter 6

Sorting Surprises

"Firs' years! Firs' years, right over here!" A bellowing voice sounded above the babble of the students as everyone scrambled to step onto the small, moonlit platform and find their friends. As Albus made his way through the crowd, trying to keep near to Scorpius and Rose, he tried to locate the source of the voice.

"Firs' years! This way!" A giant bearded man leered above the crowd, wearing a hulking black overcoat called out. Slowly, a crowd of children nearly six feet shorter than him began to gather.

Albus had met Rubeus Hagrid on more than one occasion. He appeared intimidating with his overgrown mane, now streaked with grey and wild black eyes, but was actually one of the most kind-hearted people Al had ever met. He and Rose were quite used to Hagrid's ferocious looks, but Scorpius, among others, couldn't help but let their jaws drop at the enormous man before them.

"Who is that?" gaped Scorpius.

"Hagrid," Al said. "He's the groundskeeper."

"He's… he's…" Scorpius' eyes grew wide as he attempted to size Hagrid up.

"Half-giant," Al responded. Scorpius raised his eyebrows as Albus quickly reassured him, "No, no, he's very nice."

"This all o' yeh?" Hagrid asked the assembled first years while looking around the platform for any stragglers. All of the older students had gone off to the carriages. "Alright then, right this way! Mind yer step, now, gets a bit rocky farther ahead here."

Hagrid led the gaggle of anxious eleven year olds down a steep, thin pathway. It was dark, and through all the others, Al had trouble keeping with the lantern Hagrid was holding. Finally, Hagrid called out, "Right up here, yeh'll get yer firs' glance o' Hogwarts!"

The first years let out a nearly simultaneous gasp at the sight of the great castle, perched high and mighty above a vast, murky lake.

"Come on, now," Hagrid called again. He gestured to the small boats that Al had just noticed lined up on the shore of the lake. "Climb on in! No more'n four to a boat!"

The children made their way to the assembly line of wooden boats, all with a lantern hanging from the top. Albus climbed into one right next to Hagrid, who had a boat all to himself, and was joined by Scorpius and Rose.

"Right now! FORWARD!" Hagrid shouted. The small convoy of boats lurched forward and began to sail smoothly right along the lake. Al couldn't help but gape at the castle on the top of the cliff. The tall towers and turrets loomed over the lake as the millions of crystal windows sparkled in the moonlight. Albus felt browbeaten and awed at once.

"Mind yer heads!" called Hagrid as the boats dipped into a mossy tunnel going right beneath the school. Soon, they landed in an underwater dock not far off from what looked like an abandoned boathouse. As the first years made climbed out of the boats, Hagrid had already taken off up a rocky hill to the front of the castle. The children rushed to catch up with him and they were led up a grand stone staircase in front of two great steel double doors.

As the slower of the students clambered up the steps, Hagrid knocked three times on the door raptly. Almost immediately, a woman answered the door. She was short and curvy, with a pleasant pink face adorned by her wavy black hair. Her robes were black like the students.

"Professor Hagrid," she said with a kind smile. "I trust everyone made it without incident?"

"Jus' perfect, Professor Jones," Hagrid said.

"Thank you once again," she said and moved aside to let him through. She then addressed the first years. "Welcome, children. You may follow me upstairs."

She turned swiftly on her heels and made her way up yet another set of marble stairs much faster than one would expect from a woman with her figure. Albus gawked at the immensity of the castle within. The students hastened to follow her, trying to keep up and take in everything in the warmly lit corridor as much as possible.

A great golden door to Al's right was slightly cracked. He peered in to see hundreds of older students, chatting amiably with one another as they waited for the Sorting and feast to follow.

"Albus! Come on!" Rose took him by the wrist and pulled him along into a small empty chamber next to the large room. The last of the students entered and Professor Jones began to speak.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" she said with a grin. "In just a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall for our big, start-of-term banquet. But first, you must all be sorted into your Houses! There are four Hogwarts Houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

It was easy to tell, Albus noticed right off the bat, which house each student wanted to be in. They perked up at the name. He made a quick note of which students smiled eerily at the mention of Slytherin and decided right then to avoid them.

"You'll hear each house in just a minute, but before this, I just wanted to stress the importance of the ceremony. While you're here at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. You'll eat together, have class together, sleep in the dormitories, and spend free time in the house common room. If you misbehave, you will lose points for your house and your successes will earn house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. It is an honor to be sorted into any one of these noble houses, all of which have produced extraordinarily talented witches and wizards, and I know you won't disgrace them. The ceremony will began in a few minutes. Good luck." With a sweep of her black robes, she exited the chamber.

Albus's good feelings about what Scorpius said on the train about Gryffindor vanished. Unlike some of the Muggle-born students, he knew how they were sorted at Hogwarts. But for some reason, he now had this aching fear of placing the all-knowing Sorting Hat upon his head only for it to determine that he did not belong at Hogwarts whatsoever for he didn't fit any of the Houses. Or it making some great prophecy about how he could only achieve magic if he was put in Slytherin, and wouldn't accept any of his retorts that he would prefer Gryffindor, like his dad said it did.

He looked around at his fellow classmates. Some of them looked queasy and pale, while others nearly burst with confidence. Most stood silently, like him, but some, such as Rose, were busy whispering to the Muggle-born students about each house and the Sorting Hat.

Before they knew it, Professor Jones had poked her head back into the chamber and, smiling at them, said, "We're ready for you."

The hustle and bustle to get out of the crowded little chamber was immediate, as nobody wanted to go into the Great Hall first, but at the same time, no one wanted to be last. Finally, they all made it out and Professor Jones threw open the large doors of the Great Hall.

Albus took a sharp intake of breath, not only at the thousands of eyes that he had a more than a paranoid suspicion were on him. They made their way between four large banquet tables laden with gold cutlery and platters to the front of the hall, where another table sat horizontally facing the students. The teachers all sat here, looking pleasant, with a tall, grey haired woman in a large chair in the center. He knew that had to be Professor McGonagall, the stern Headmistress.

"Whoa!" he heard Scorpius gasp beside him. He turned to see the blond boy looking up at the ceiling. Albus gazed upward and to his surprise, saw no ceiling. Instead, the walls of Hogwarts were open to the night sky, dotted with sparkling stars.

"Is there no roof?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"No, it's just—" Scorpius began and Rose cut him off.

"No, Al, it's bewitched to look like the sky outside. It's in _Hogwarts;__A__History_. I told you that you should have read it!" she scolded.

"Sorry," he mumbled as the crowd of anxious eleven year olds reached the front of the room. Professor Jones stood contently next to a stool. On the stool sat a tattered and dirty old wizard's hat. Albus was confused. Surely this couldn't be the Sorting Hat? He'd always pictured a glorious, sleek and tall hat enladen with jewels. Something regal like that, at least.

"Now when I call your name, please step forward and put the hat on your head to be sorted." Professor Jones explained. Albus felt like something was missing. He remembered and turned to ask Rose about it.

"Shouldn't the hat, I mean, doesn't it sing a song?" he asked quietly.

"Albus, the hat hasn't sung in 19 years." She sneered. "It decided it had nothing to say."

Prepared to read the first name, Professor Jones opened her mouth. So did the Hat.

_Hello there, my friends, both old and new,_

_Hello those gathered here upon this noble day._

_It's been quite long since we last spoke,_

_But I have a lot to say._

_My purpose here, as you may know,_

_Is to divide your youth._

_And though I will still do so,_

_I'm not sure I approve._

_I may place you in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave and bold._

_If you want adventure,_

_You belong with red and gold._

_Perhaps you'll be a Hufflepuff,_

_All patient, true and just._

_Despite their peaceful nature,_

_Bravery is still a must._

_If you like not quest over book,_

_And not friendship over wit,_

_Ravenclaw is where you'll go,_

_When you come up here to sit._

_Or lastly, Slytherin,_

_Where the cunning find their friends._

_Brave as any Gryffindor,_

_But will go to any ends._

_I sit here upon this stool,_

_Ready to make your choice._

_But I do not approve of division,_

_Please listen to my voice._

_Times are growing tougher,_

_I'm sure most would agree,_

_Total union is much stronger,_

_Than one against three._

_I'm still well prepared, you know,_

_To guide you to your rightful place._

_But you'd be wise to heed my words,_

_Or soon, there won't be a trace._

The hat sat silent. No one applauded. The teachers changed their expression from content to solemn. Nobody knew what to make of the hat's sudden decision to speak, nonetheless to warn them all.

Professor Jones broke the silence as she cleared her throat. She read the first name.

"Alexander, Nathan!"

A tiny brunette boy clambered to the front and sat on the stool eagerly. He seemed nervous, however, as Professor Jones placed the now vocal hat on his head.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat called ceremoniously. The boy's smug look returned as he slid off the stool to join the masses of applauding Slytherins at the far table.

Albus gulped. First the hat's surprising song, and then the first boy is a Slytherin. Clearly, this wasn't a good sign. More students were called up, but it wasn't until "Boyd, Elizabeth!" that he was even sure if the hat was including Gryffindor.

The list seemed to go on for hours.

"Coote, Evangeline!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Davies, Lianne!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Finch-Fletchley, Jason!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Al tried to see what the Sorting Hat did once it was upon their head. Sometimes, it barely touched the head of the student before declaring their house ("Goyle, Vincent!"), but it sat upon "Hopkins, Stephanie!" for almost five minutes before finally making her a Hufflepuff.

By the time "Malfoy, Scorpius!" was called up, the crowd around Albus had thinned out by quite a bit. Scorpius looked at Albus a bit nervously as he sauntered up to the stool. Albus could tell he was trying to appear as confident as possible, but ended up looking a bit as though he had something in his pants. He sat on the stool and Professor Jones put the hat upon his head. It did not announce, "SLYTHERIN!" instantly, as Scorpius had expected it to, but he still sat solemnly on the stool, staring blankly as Al tried to catch his eye. Finally, the hat made a decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Scorpius looked half shocked, half gleeful, but all worried. The Gryffindors leapt to their feet in applause as he joined them. Albus noticed some whispers of confusion over at the Slytherin table.

It wasn't a long wait between "Malfoy" and "Potter". There was only "McDougal, Annabelle!", "Nott, Suzanne!", "Parks, Fredrick!" and then…

"Potter, Albus!"

Albus stepped forward between the six or so more students waiting, including Rose, who patted him on the back delicately, but awkwardly. He could have sworn he felt the stares intensify and some whispering, but he was probably just paranoid.

He sat down on the stool and the hat was placed on top of his mop of dark hair. He jerked a little when he heard a small, but snarling voice in his ears.

"Potter, hmm…" it said as he sat there trembling. "The obvious choice, of course is Gryffindor. But I see so much more to go on besides your bravery… academic potential, loyalty, and a thirst to prove yourself. Much like your father, aren't you?"

"_Please,_" he begged the voice silently. _"__Just__put__me__in__Gryffindor.__My__dad__said__you__'__d__listen.__"_

"He did, did he?" the voice sneered. "How will you grow any more if you're in the same house as your glorious father, and your bright brother? I see a part of you that wants to rise above. A large part. But if you're positive, there's no going back now, is there? We'll put you in GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was announced to the entire hall. Albus relaxed— he hadn't even felt himself tense up— and smiled as he hopped off the stool to the hoards of cheering Gryffindors, all waiting to congratulate him. He found James in the madness, who smiled crookedly at him, nodding and clapping.

Rose was the last student left to sort. She cantered up to the stool much like Scorpius did, but with a bit more femininity. The hat waited there for only a few seconds before announcing, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose grinned in a very smug way and bounded off the stool and sat down across from Albus and another girl recently sorted into Gryffindor, "Finnegan, Claire,". If she had any reservations about not being a Ravenclaw, she didn't reveal them.

As Rose's applause died down, Professor McGonagall stood up gallantly. "Welcome. To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts. To our returning faces, welcome back. I shan't keep you from the food that I know the kitchens have worked so hard on all summer. Enjoy the feast!"


	7. Chapter 7: House Woes

**A/N: **Hello! Sorry for the long time it took to update; don't know exactly when I last did (and nobody tell me, it's better this way... haha). But I did tell you not to expect it for a while. And I'm going to tell you the same thing about Chapter 8... awkward. But in the meantime, thanks for reading thus far and please enjoy Chapter 7!

_PS: This chapter covers a few of Al's classmates. I have made some changes to Chapter 6 regarding them, so if a name seems unfamiliar, different, etc. Go back and read Chapter 6 again- it may have changed._

Chapter 7

House Woes

Suddenly, the golden plates before Albus filled feet high full of food. Not just one kind of food, either. Why, as he looked down the table, he could see that every inch of it was covered in a new dish. He piled about fifty different types of delicious looking meats, savoury sauces, and steaming vegetables onto his plate and dug in.

It was nearly ten minutes later before he came up for air. He looked next to him to Scorpius. However, it was quite obvious that his new friend was not as enthusiastic about the glorious cuisine as Albus. In fact, Scorpius had gone entirely pale and was staring blankly at his empty golden plate.

Albus swallowed his mouthful of beef. "Scorpius?" He asked delicately.

"My dad's going to kill me," Scorpius gaped, more to himself than anyone.

Al put down his fork and caught Scorpius' eye when he glanced up. The blonde boy had a positively terrified expression on his face.

"Why would he do that?" Rose chimed in. "Gryffindor is the best house, and you should be proud to be in it. Don't you remember what you told us on the train?"

"I know, but that was when I still expected to be in Slytherin," Scorpius mumbled. "And I never said I _wanted_ to be in Gryffindor, I just wasn't excited about being in Slytherin."

"Well, now you don't have to be!" Albus said, trying to make his friend a bit happier. "And your dad doesn't even have to know!"

"He'll find out," Scorpius said miserably. "I have cousins already in Slytherin. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew tomorrow. I'll probably get a Howler."

"That's not fair!" Rose exclaimed.

"That's my father," Scorpius said. "He's many things, but fair is one thing he's never really been."

Albus felt his heart ache for the boy sitting beside him. He thought about his own dad, whom he couldn't wait to write as soon as he left dinner and whom he knew would be absolutely thrilled that his son was a Gryffindor. He remembered his dad teaching him and James how to play Quidditch, reading to them when they were younger, and roughhousing with the boys when they grew older. They were some of his fondest memories. He just never realized that some people didn't have the same adoring images of their parents.

With that, Scorpius became quiet. He served himself a bit of rice and picked at it in silence for the next fifteen minutes. It was then that the Headmistress McGonagall stood once more.

She cleared her throat and everyone in the Great Hall simultaneously put down their forks. The platters of food cleared themselves, suddenly sparkling clean. The hum of chatter across the banquet tables hushed as the woman began her speech.

"Good evening," She said almost coldly. "And I hope you all are nice and fed from your journey. There are just a few announcements to get through before we send you all up to bed. Firstly, students are reminded to keep out of the Forbidden Forest without express written permission from Professor Hagrid, Mr. Filch, or myself. Mr. Filch has also requested that all students take notice of the list of banned items located in all the House common rooms and outside of his office, as he has added a significant number of products, including Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes new line of Pranking Potions, amongst others. Finally, as a temporary development, the staff is asking that students avoid the Third Floor corridor for the year. And just to ward off those of you who will undoubtedly try to find their way around this rule—"

Albus couldn't help but notice James and his friends snicker.

"Let me dispel all rumours now: What lies in the Third Floor corridor is strict Ministry classified business that concerns no one but the Ministry and the Hogwarts teachers. It is _absolutely_nothing of importance to students such as yourselves. _Any_students caught meandering about the corridor will be punished _most__severely._" Professor McGonagall emphasized her last sentence. No one in the hall moved until she clapped her hands, ending the speech with a shrill, "That will be all. Have a nice evening everyone."

All at once, the Great Hall transformed from an arena of silence to a bustling sea of noisy students all anxious to get to their dormitories. Amongst the frenzy, Albus spotted his cousin, Molly, a fifth-year prefect, yelling for the first years to follow her.

"Albus, come on!" Rose scolded him. She had already rushed ahead to the front of the pack of first-years. Albus pushed his way next to her, Scorpius at his heels. The nine new Gryffindors struggled to make it out of the Great Hall, but once they did, their journey up seven flights of moving stairs was easy and amusing.

Albus ignored everything that Molly was saying to them while she led them up through the castle and chose to take everything in. The moving portraits waved hello like they had to many generations of first years before him. He felt slightly self-conscious, for it seemed like every time he passed one, the occupants would point and whisper. Once, he swore he heard a knight yell out, "Rise, son of the warrior Harry Potter, to my challenge!" But when he looked back, the knight had vanished in pursuit of the Ravenclaws.

Finally, they reached a portrait of a large woman in a silky pink gown. Upon arriving at it, the woman opened her mouth.

"Password?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Hungarian Horntail," Molly spoke crisply. The lady nodded and swung open to reveal a small tunnel. The eleven year olds climbed through it, and when they came out, all of their eyes were wide and their mouths gaping.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room," Molly said proudly, flipping her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. "The boys' dormitories are on your left, and the girls' on your right. All of your possessions should be waiting in your rooms. Breakfast will begin in the Great Hall tomorrow at seven and classes will begin by nine. You best be on time to receive your schedules. Good night."

The Gryffindors separated into their respective sides of the tower. Albus waved good-bye to Rose, who did not respond, but had sped up the staircase to the girls dorms.

He entered the room labelled First Years above the door with Scorpius. There were five four-poster beds spread in a circle around the room, and sure enough, Al's trunk was sitting neatly beside one right beside the window, with Godric perched in his cage atop the dresser. To his left was Scorpius' bed, and the right was a handsome boy with dark curls that he didn't know.

Albus went over to begin to unpack his pajamas. The boy to his right started talking to him.

"I like your owl," said the boy enthusiastically.

"Thanks!" Albus said. "I call him Godric."

"Ah, you must have been pretty sure you'd be in Gryffindor then," the boy replied. Albus shrugged. The boy went on.

"My whole family was in Hufflepuff. Quite a shock for me to be here, but I'm not complaining. Gryffindor _is_ supposed to be the best, isn't it? Of course, the only downside is that my sister got sorted into Hufflepuff. Stephanie Hopkins. I'm Ian. We're twins." He said this all so quickly that Albus could hardly think of a reply. He simply nodded.

"Is Hufflepuff still good?" A rather high pitched voice asked from the corner. A short, blonde boy had spoken.

"Well, of course!" Ian responded, shocked that the blonde boy would assume otherwise. "They're the hardest working. You'd think some of the best grades on the O.W.L and N.E.W.T exams would come from Ravenclaw, but actually it's Hufflepuff."

"Er, what are the Owl and Newt exams?" The blonde boy asked shyly. "I hadn't heard of them. But then again, I haven't heard of a lot. I'm Muggle-born, you see. Name's Fredrick Parks, but you can call me Fred."

"Ah, you don't need to worry about them yet," Ian said. "We don't take them until fifth and seventh years. Huge wizarding tests."

"You're Muggle-born, you say?" The final boy finally spoke up. The dark-skinned boy was located at the bed beside Scorpius. Fred nodded.

"So's my mum," explained the boy. He was crouched down at his trunk, already hanging up posters for Puddlemere United Quidditch, but Albus could tell that he was very tall. "And my dad, too, for all we know. He never knew his dad, but we think he was a wizard as well. Either way, my grandparents are all Muggles, so I get it. But I do think it's quite odd, how they choose to substitute magic and all. I'm Evan, by the way. Evan Thomas."

Evan and Fred began discussing Muggle affairs. Ian turned to Albus.

"And who are you then?" he asked.

"Albus Potter," Al replied, holding out his hand. "Pureblood."

Ian accepted his handshake warmly, raising his eyebrows. "Potter, did you say?" Al nodded.

"Interesting." Ian bit his lip, thinking. Albus frowned. Why was everyone so fascinated by his last name?

"I'm Scorpius." Al's friend finally spoke up. "Scorpius Malfoy. Also Pureblooded, and also House-confused, like you."

Ian chuckled a bit. "And where were you supposed to be then?"

"Slytherin." Scorpius said solemnly. The other two boys quieted at the sound of their rival house.

"Ah, that's the bad one," Fred acknowledged, clearly quite proud that he remembered. Scorpius nodded sadly.

"My whole family's been there for centuries, 'cept for a few cousins of my Grandmother's or something. I don't know what they're going to say when they find out I'm here." He professed.

"Well, I'd be right proud to be breaking that evil spell!" Ian announced. Scorpius perked up a bit.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, mate," Evan consoled. "What's done is done."

"Yeah," Fred agreed.

Albus gave his friend a comforting look. Scorpius returned it with a miserable smile.

Albus and the other boys silently put on their pajamas and climbed into their warm, new beds. The lights went out instantly, but Albus rolled over onto his side to look out the window. Gryffindor tower had a beautiful view of the rolling hills and the forest beyond. Albus smiled slightly and breathed a sigh of relief.

Gryffindor. Finally.


End file.
